Window-shade fixture.



D. HOYT. v WINDOW SHADE FIXTURE.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 26. 1907.

928,865. Patented July 20, 1909.

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H} l i; 2! l i II In I In EH I H Mi W I W newsear I lit Z0 D. HOYTL WINIPOW SHADE FIXTURE. APPLIUATION FILED JULY26, 1907.

Patented July 20, 1909.

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DANIEL HOYT, OF NEWARK, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO THE NATIONAL LOCK WASHER COMPANY, OF NEWARK, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

WINDOW-SHADE FIXTURE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed July 26, 1907. Serial No. 385,638.

No. 928,865. Patented July 20, 1909.

55 the head 6 is carried, and 9 is a spring coni This construction, when thus organized and 110 To all whom it may concern: stantly tending to force the head outward. Be it known that I, DANIEL HoY'r, a citi- 10 is a stop attached to the shank 8 which, zen of the United States, residing at Newark, co-acting with the slot 11 in the shade bar, in the county of Essex and State of New Jer limits the latitude of movement of the said sey, have invented certain new and useful head. This stop may be inserted into one or 60 Improvements in Window-Shade Fixtures, the other of the ta ped recesses 15 in the of which the following is a specification, shank and the lengt of the shade stick may reference being had therein to the accomthus be varied. 12 is the window casing propanying drawings. vided with a groove or guide way 13 in which My present invention relates to improvethe head travels, said groove being provided 5 ments in curtain fixtures, and it consists of with a housing plate 1 1, partially closing the certain novel arts and combinations of opening to the groove and leaving an enparts particular y pointed out in the claims trance space less in width than the width of concluding the specification. the head 6. Any other suitable means for 15 In the accompanying drawings I have mounting and controlling the action of the 7 shown my invention embodied in the form spring-pressed head 6 may be adopted in which is at present preferred by me, but it place of that shown as these specific means will be understood that various modificaare not essential to my present invention. tions and changes in the structure may be The mode of operation of my improved made without departing from the spirit of fixture will be readily understood by refer- 75 my invention and without exceeding the once to Fig. 1. In the position indicated by sco e of my claims. the letter A, the shade-bar is in the horizontal n the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 and normal position, the heads being yieldshows partly in elevation and partly in secingly pressed outward by their springs, since tion, a shade provided with a fixture involvat this time the stops 10 have not reached ing my present invention; and also shows the limit of their outward movement. If the shade bar in different positions of anguthe shade-bar be tilted to the position indilarity with respect to the window casing. cated at B, the stops will then have reached Fig. 2 is an enlarged view showing the fixture their outermost positions, and the heads will 30 head and means for operating the same in have lost their frictional grip upon the 85 perspective; Fig. 3 is a plan top view of Fig. grooves. Hence the heads Wlll exert no 2, showing the head in engagement with the force opposed either to the pull of the shade groove of the window casing. Fig. 4 is a spring on one end, or to the action of gravity view showing a modified form of fixture, on the other end of the rod and these forces whereby the simultaneous contact of the will combine to effect, or one or the other of 90 head with both the housing and the bottom them will effect, the automatic self-righting of the guideway will be avoided without emof the shade bar. In the position indlcated ploying means for limiting the tilting capac at O the shade-bar has been still further tiltity 'of the bar. ed and has, in fact, been tilted to the maxi- 40 The following is a description of the conmum extent, because the inner edges of the 95 struction illustrated in said drawings: heads 6 in this position at both ends are in Referring to Figs. 2 and 3, 4 is a shade bar, contact with the housing strips 14, which being, in the example shown, of a considerprevent any further tilting. But it will be able weight so as to counterbalance to a observed that when the bar is thus tilted to greater or less extent the constant pull of its maximum extent the heads 6 are on the spring roller, which spring roller is alneither side in contact with the bottom of the ways employed with this type of curtain fixgrooves, so that a binding action (which tures, and is indicated at 5, Fig. 1, being would result from a simultaneous contact of preferably of substantially uniform tension one of the heads with the bottom of the throughout its working limits. 6 is the surgroove and the housing strip) is effectually face of the fixture head engaging with the prevented. Hence, when the force which groove or guide way of the window frame has thus tilted the curtain bar is removed the and maintaining the shade bar by friction in bar will, automatically, as above described, the desired position. 8 is a shank on which return to the normal and horizontal position.

the several parts so adjusted with reference to each other, provides a device which is automatically self-righting under all conditions of use or misuse and which cannot be disengaged from the window frame. Furthermore, it does not require pinch-handles to opeliate it, although, of course, they might be user Instead of providing means for limiting the tilting of the shade bar and thus preventing the head coming into engagement simul taneously with both the housing strip and the bottom of the guide way, I may proportion the vertical width of the head to the effective depth of the guide-way (by diminishing the former or increasing the latter or both) in such a manner that the vertical width of the head is not substantially greater than the depth of the guide way whereby simultaneous contact of the head with both the housing and the bottom of the guide way will be avoided in practical operation without employing means for limiting the tilting capacity of the barsuch an arrangement being shown in detail in my pending application Serial No. 296,343, filed January 16, 1906, this construction being illustrated also in the modified view designated as Fig. 4 in the drawings.

I will now describe the function of the wings 7, 7 attached to the heads 6, which are in no sense essential to the principles of my invention broadly considered. If these wings were absent the wear of the housing strip 14, which is preferably of metal, would all be imposed upon the shank 8 and would tend rapidly to cut the shank in two. To avoid this the shank or head is provided with the wings 7, 7, which wings expose a very much larger surface to the wear of the housing strip and so diminishing its cutting effect, or, in other words, prolong the life of the fixture. Furthermore, these wings bearing on the housing strip prevent the shade bar, or head, being rotated which might cause binding between the head and the sides of the groove. These wings, however, it should be observed, do not have any function in effecting or interfering with the self-righting function of the fixture, because, as clearly shown in Fig. 1, they are never in contact with the bottom of the guide way; nor do they have any function in preventing the disengagement of the head from its guide way.

Having thus described my invention in the form in which it is at present preferred by me, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. The combination with a window casing guide way, a spring carried by said shade bar for pressing said holding means into contact with the bottom of said guide-way, the parts being so constructed and arranged that the head cannot simultaneously contact with the bottom of the guide way and the housing when the shade bar is in its position of maximum tilting.

2. The combination with a window casing formed with a guide-way, a partial housing for said guide-way affording a face opening of less width than the guide-way, of a shade having a shade bar at its lower end, holding means carried by the bar having a head of greater width than the face opening of the guide-way, a spring carried by said shade bar for pressing said holding means into contact with the bottom of said guide-way, the parts being so constructed and arranged that the tilting of the shade bar is limited and the head cannot simultaneously contact with the bottom of the guide-way and the housing when the shade bar is in its position of maximum tilting.

3. The combination with a window casing formed with a guide way, a partial housing for said guide way affording a face opening of less width than the guide way, of a shade I having a shade bar at its lower end, holding means carried by the bar having a head of greater width than the face opening of the guide way, a wearing surface attached to the part carrying said head extending in a line parallel with said housing and against which it bears, a spring carried by said shade bar for pressing said holding means into contact with the bottom of said guide-way, the parts being so constructed and arranged that the head cannot contact both with the bottom of the guide way and the housing when the shade bar is in its position of maximum tiltin 1. The combination with a window casing formed with a guide way, a partial housing for said guide way, affording a face opening of less width than the guide way, of a shade having a shade bar at its lower end, holding means carried by the bar having a head of greater width than the face opening of the guide way, and a wearing surface attached to the part carrying said head extending in a line parallel with said housing and against which it bears, a spring carried by said shade bar for pressing said holding means into contact with the bottom of said guideway, the parts being so constructed and arranged that the tilting of the shade is limited and the head cannot simultaneously contact both with the bottom of the guide way and the housing when the shade bar is in its position of maximum tilting.

5. The combination with a window casing formed with a guide way, of a shade, a shade bar therefor, and holding means carried by the bar comprising a member movable relative to the bar, a widened wearing surface formed with a guideway, of a shade, a shade bar therefor, a shank member reciprocating in the shade bar, means for limiting the movement of the shank member in the shade bar, a wearing surface integral with the shank and a head integral with the Wearing surface.

In testimony whereof I afliX my signature in presence of two witnesses.

DANIEL HOYT. Witnesses W. A. PAULING, RICHARD B. CAVANAGH. 

